Nagara - A Journey
by MitsukiTachibana
Summary: Sent on a mission to prevent the launch of the SSTO, Light Cruiser Nagara was more than capable of handling the few human ships and ground defenses that were arrayed against her. What she did not expect was a near fatal run in with I-401 and Chihaya Gunzou. A desperate desire to survive ascends her into the lofty station of those with a mental model, but at what cost?
1. Beginnings

Author's Note:

This is just a small story about a forgotten and lost little Light Cruiser. I am taking very strong liberties with this one, and I'm mostly keeping to the manga on this story and my soon to come _Musings of a Hawaiian Expedition_. Not knowing the ultimate fate of this poor little ship leaves a lot of leeway to work with. If the ultimate fate of Nagara is ever addressed, then this will become very obsolete or extreme Alternate Universe.

Disclaimer: I do not own _Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio_ nor any of its characters.

* * *

Failure. Within a few fractions of a millisecond before the collapse of my kline field due to 401's corrosive torpedo, I knew it was over. The fatal blow to my hull was dealt amidships on my port side, tearing apart nanomaterials and vital systems while exposing multiple decks to the open air and sea. Had I a human crew, their cries of terror an agony would likely have haunted my union core for the rest of its days.

I-401 and Chihaya Gunzou split my side not unlike I had done mere minutes before to the pair of JMSDF warships that had attempted to delay my assault. Did their spirits rejoice in my sinking? Why am I even considering such things? There is a lot of time for introspection between the clock cycles, I suppose.

A jarring explosion and the dozen or so red failure indicators cascade to the whole system tree. Amid all these failures, I've lost track of what probably went critical that caused the secondary explosions. It really doesn't matter at this point anyways. Split in two, I can still communicate with remaining systems in my two halves, but there is no point as my hull slips beneath the waves.

A few more minor explosions beneath the surface and all interactivity is red, probably worse is that last explosion split the central housing and now my union core is freed from its housing. It isn't damaged, but I'm not sure that is a good thing. My fate is now left to the waves, the sediment of the sea floor where ever I settle, and that human concept of luck if any of the Fog are sent to look for me. Do I even matter in the scheme of things, we can produce my class in the hundreds at least. I was the lead ship of the class, but we are weapons and my kind are easily replaced.

Chihaya Gunzou is ruthless against those of us without mental models, perhaps we are seen as little more than a hull, like most humans view their ships, but would he view things differently if we appeared like him? If at the helm of every fog warship was a girl, could we break his resolve or would he reveal himself to be no different than anyone else?

Pointless speculation, waste of resources, but what difference would it make now for me? Doomed to quiet isolation, a lost speck of light in the endless, dark expanse of the ocean. Alone for an eternity.

No! Without the input, without the network, without purpose, what point was there to existence? Running calculations, power systems, nanomaterials, propulsion, communications, all inoperable and not repairable. Could I use these materials to make something else, a small vessel, distress beacon, no, insufficient processing capacity to fabricate without design specifications. My model does not possess sufficient resources to have 'inspiration' or 'imagination' as far as the human definitions go.

I do have specifications on mental models, the whole Fog fleet has the detailed processes and conceptualized design, but Light cruisers like myself do not possess the capacity to maintain one, our hulls and combat systems, and our primary functionalities without external assistance. I estimate that it would require 1.02% of the processing capacity of a heavy cruiser or higher to support this normally. I can easily overcome this if I re-purpose primary functions. I don't want to be alone, lost, and forgotten on some nameless battlefield.

I.

Will.

Persevere.

* * *

"Nagara, you were just following orders." Was the melancholy reply of Iona as she watched the aft section of the former light cruiser slip beneath the surface, its nanomaterial hull already beginning decay. Perhaps a little too quickly, but she did not have long to consider such as her captain approached.

Unknown to those on land at the launch center or the rapidly receding I-401, the remnants of the sunk light cruiser were quickly breaking down into component nanomaterial. Clouds of nanomaterial began coalescing around a flattened metallic sphere about three inches in diameter. This sphere had a number of smaller spheres merged into it. The nanomaterials filled in the cracks that marred the core's surface before they began the process of constructing a form.

The procedure was relatively quick and simple despite the complexity of a mental model. Unfortunately for Nagara, the templates, scripts, algorithms, and procedures took a lot of power. It also only covered the form itself, details pulled from the 'subconscious' of the individual union core, and not any type of clothing except for those few garments identified for personal modesty. Undergarments, a bra and a pair of panties along with a pair of black knee high stockings for some unexplained reason, were all she was equipped with.

She barely had time to run her new hand through her shoulder length orange hair and blink her pale green eyes before the world around her swirled and darkness descended on her consciousness.

New functions swirled around in her 'dreams' as her core arranged the proper functioning of the new form to the appropriate execution threads. What could have seemed like an eternity to an intelligence used to operating on the clock cycles of a quantum computer, Nagara awoke.

Her eyes beheld a small mess of dark green kelp upon which was perched a small baseball sized crab, blinking she rolled onto her back, and her vision swam threatening to toss her right back into unconsciousness. Her energy reserves were suboptimal and her core was unused to the new form which despite its size (and the fact that it held over 90% of the nanomaterial mass of her old hull) was vastly more complex than her ship.

It was then that she recognized the sky and the open air. She was on shore. The pale skinned, orange haired girl, who in this form did not appear any older than 16, bolted to a sitting position and spun around to take in the sights of a portion of the world she had only beheld from the sea. However, such an act produced a tremendous amount of dizziness and darkness crashed in on her vision. Nagara yet again passed out.

A shadow covered the new mental model, as gulls cried and the waves crashed against the distant rocks.

* * *

Between the lines:

Despite her analysis, Nagara's core was indeed damaged in the explosion. Not nearly enough to destroy it, but enough to cause a fault in the logic that lead to a unexplained exception loop which had the benefit of forcing her to seek out a continued existence in the only means she had at her disposal. This, which we will find out, comes at the expense of her being able to manifest a ship even if she has access to enough nanomaterials. Though even if she could, she does not have the processing power alone to maintain both a mental model and a hull.


	2. Awakening

Author's Note:

Nagara is awake and alive, in a manner of speaking. More on that philosophic point later in the series. This story takes place in the Saga Prefecture, that is to say Nagasaki. We get to meet the new girl, but we won't find out much more until the next chapter, sorry.

Disclaimer: I do not own _Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio_ nor any of its characters.

* * *

Explosions. The crashing of waves against metal. The deep resounding repeat of photon cannons. Sharp, screeching sound of metal buckling and then tearing apart. A sudden, brief in-rushing of air and a pregnant pause. A moment of complete stillness. A deep resounding pop and a sudden out-rushing of fire and force.

Nagara's eyes flew open and for a moment or two she blinked, briefly shaking her head to clear it of the image. Finally shrugging off the after images, she took a long look at her surroundings and the object she was currently reposing upon.

She pulled all the requisite information from memory without a single dip in her processes. A bed, side table, lamp, bed sheets, blankets, all mundane and typical accouterments of a standard human domicile. What did not reside in her operating memory was how she came to resting horizontally on a human bed and not upon the ocean waves.

That thought caused a slight increase in quantum cpu usage briefly as the events that lead to her current state. Throwing off the covers that concealed her hull… body, it was a human-form body and it was interesting she noted how these new appendages, hands that were attached to… arms, operated effortlessly despite the fact that she had never really had them before.

She was losing focus. Directing her eyes, interesting things eyes, her vision was generally regarded as arc-restricted 360 degree view as a ship, but these, eyes, were direction-ally restricted to a 120 degree view, approximately.

"Okay this is silly, I need to stop digressing," she… digressed. Steeling her thoughts to focus on the task at hand she regarded her new self.

Her coloration was pale, not so deathly pale that she seemed bloodless, just that it would appear that she had never seen a single ray of sun. The skin was smooth, lacking blemish or any feature of note except the divet on the center of her lower torso. Her information identified it as a birth scar, the navel, also known colloquially as a belly button. Important for passing as a human she supposed, but not critical information at this moment. She considered the digits on her upper and lower extremities, her hands and feet. Fingers and toes is what they were identified as respectively, and though similar based on examples from primates, served different purposes. She had other aspects that were covered by undergarments and rather than continue taking stock of things she did not otherwise need to track, she considered things she did not have and would need.

Most humans she had seen, appeared draped in garments more covering then the ones over her the upper and lower most portions of her torso. Summoning a status window she regarded her inventory and noticed it empty except for her currently equipped bra, panties, and a 'scrunchy' that was holding her hair in a ponytail. She also had a fairly large repository of nanomaterial for fabrication.

Her, recipes, for lack of a better term consisted of main battery photon cannons, torpedoes of various types, missiles, and her hull type. All of it was inaccessible due to her lack of sufficient free processing resources. She possessed no recipes or templates to fabricate equipment for her human form, not even a default generic outfit except for her PG required undergarments. Yet she found she could fabricate a rough sword or two, oh how she might enjoy dual wielding at some point, though she failed to see why something or somebody thought this was more important than clothes or other equipment.

Nagara sighed and swung her legs over the edge of the bed and rose to her feet. Everything to her was like moving through very thick fluid, the act of standing brought very strange sensations to her receptors and caused her to 'feel' a strange longing to return to the bed. She 'felt' heavy, though her mass was negligible in comparison to her current form's capacity for physical strength. As she took a step towards the door, the room began to spin and her vision blur. Nagara collapsed with a noticeable thump against the hard wood flooring. She was very weak, possibly it took far more energy then she could spare to form the body initially, but what choice did she have at the time?

Footfalls quickly approached and the sound of a door opening brought the feeling of a presence close to her body. With a groan she rolled over onto her back and opened her eyes. A kind smile and bright brown eyes of a young girl, possibly fifteen or sixteen years of age greeted her. Her brown hair looked to reach about her mid-back and she was dressed in a navy blue jacket, a collared white, button-up shirt with a red tie, and a navy blue skirt.

"Hey easy there. You've been out like a light for almost the whole day. Whatever happened to you out there, you were lucky to wash up on shore before drowning." The girl spoke casually using the hichiku dialect of Japanese (i.e. the typical one spoken in Nagasaki).

Nagara blinked and shrugged, "where am I? And who are you?"

The other girl blinked, "kansai? Huh, oh, um, you are in my house in Nagasaki west-end district of Saga prefecture. I'm Mizuhara Kaori. What's your name?" Kaori helped Nagara to a sitting position.

"Nagara… uh, Kirino Nagara." Nagara replied with a small bit of a blush, _that's the best I could come up with?_

Kaori smiled and replied cheerfully, "nice to meet you. I suppose you don't have any luggage or anything. There was nothing on the beach. I think some of my stuff may be a little small, but we can probably get away with my old schools uniform until we can get you something else." Kaori rifled through the drawers producing a fairly atypical seifuku (naval style school uniform) in a navy blue color with white stripping and a red ribbon.

Nagara nodded, happy to have something to put on for now. Donning the blouse and pleated skirt, it was indeed a bit short with the shirt exposing a bit of her stomach and the skirt just a tad short ending further above the knee then it should.

Scanning the outfit, she patterned it and shifting native material and replacing it with her nanomaterial she lengthened it to the appropriate fit. Giving it a brief dusting she smiled at her work and looked up at Kaori.

Kaori was staring at the girl with wide eyes, "h… how did you just do that?"

"Uh, oops…" Nagara nervously replied. Not fifteen minutes into consciously meeting this girl and already she's messed up.

* * *

Between the lines:

So it seems that the best Nagara could come up with is Kirino, which you will recognize as the first surname that Takao uses while snooping about in human society and the one she meets Gunzou's mother under. This might have some impact at some point, but since this is before then I guess Nagara gets credit for using it first.

The notations of the dialect or accents won't be very significant, other than people remarking that Nagara speaks like an Osaka girl (despite the Nagara river being in the Gifu Prefecture in the Chubu region).


	3. Chuunibyou Light Cruiser

Author's Note:

Nagara is finding out that the nature of some humans is better than expected. She is also learning that perhaps I-402's informational database, cached mode, may not be as useful as it first appeared.

Disclaimer: I do not own _Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio_ nor any of its characters.

* * *

Kaori was staring at the girl with wide eyes, "h… how did you just do that?"

"Uh, oops…" Nagara nervously replied. Not fifteen minutes into consciously meeting this girl and already she's messed up.

Kaori blinked for a moment before she gasped, "You… you must be…"

Nagara braced for the inevitable. She had been on land for such a brief time, interacting with a local human girl and already things had fallen apart. The typical Fog trait of the use and manipulation of nanomaterial was second nature to her, and in her own defense, she had never operated a mental model before.

"… It couldn't be… are you…?"

Reviewing her options, Nagara made a tactical analysis of the situation. Her scans revealed that subject 001, designated Mizuhara Kaori, was an adolescent human specimen of average physical capabilities of her age category. Within fractions of a second, Nagara had identified no less than twenty-four points she could strike to render subject 001 into standby mode, what humans termed unconsciousness.

Another few fractions of a second were spent considering lethal alternatives, but that whole process stack was terminated. Observing the door, she calculated the most efficient means of egress after a safe incapacitation of Mizuhara Kaori.

"Are you… a magician?"

All current tactical operational processes completely terminated and dropped memory residency. Nagara physically paused and her emotional simulator kicked in causing her to blink a few times and take on the expression of confusion.

"Magician?" Nagara inquired.

Kaori nodded as she responded, "yes, like with magic tricks, prestidigitation and all."

Nagara accessed the offline database for collected human knowledge and found it to be exceptionally lacking. Multiple fast searches returned a few minor hits until she reached the cached informational database of popular human culture as compiled by I-402. One of the searches pulled up a perfect technical match, magical girl. I-402 was tasked with reconnaissance, so this information must be accurate, though the commentary on I-402's database by I-400 about her being a NEET confused Nagara.

She skimmed the meticulously detailed entry, but didn't have the 'time' for a full read as she was operating between cycles, in fractions of a second while attempting to maintain an active conversation with an analog creature.

"I… I'm a magical girl!" Declared Nagara.

Kaori sweatdropped, "a… magical girl?"

Nodding, Nagara continued as she quickly pulled selected terms from quick keyword searches, "Yes, that was part of my transformation sequence. I was… adapting this outfit to my… linker core? That is to say…"

Kaori put her index and middle finger against Nagara's lips silencing her continued rambling, "Nagi-chan…"

 _Nagi-chan_? Nagara thought, _Is that diminutive technically correct_?

"Chuunibyou is not a healthy thing. Pretending and imagination is great, but don't let it take over your perception of reality." Stated Kaori as she patted the mental model on the head.

For some particular reason Nagara felt very insulted, puffing out her cheeks she pulled her knees up to her chest, "I'm not delusional. Well then, maybe I'm really a super-advanced artificial intelligence and warship of the Fleet of the Fog."

Kaori giggled, "I liked magical girl better."

"I'll prove it then!" Nagara yelled.

Standing swiftly with a fire in her eyes, Nagara went to summon her kline field and digital interface overlays, but a flashing indicator in the corner of her vision reminded her of her very low energy state. As quickly as she stood, she swooned as dizziness over took her again and she collapsed.

Rushing over, Kaori shook her gently, "hey, take it easy Nagi-chan. You've had quite the ordeal and, uh, your magic and you know, your energy and stuff need to be replenished."

With a groan, Nagara sat up, and with aid from Kaori stood up, "You don't need to patronize me you know, but refueling… that sounds like a very sensible assessment Kaori-chan."

Kaori lead Nagara into the living room and from there into the dining room area. The dining room area was very Americanized, with a dark wood, full-standing table and four cushioned seats of the same material.

She helped Nagara into one of the seats before heading into the kitchen, "I'll make some lunch, just rest there for now. Oh…"

Opening the fridge, Kaori poured a glass of orange juice and placed it before the orange haired girl, "I love orange juice, tasty and good for you too. The sugars and vitamin C should help."

Kaori also paused to switch on the television, it only had local Saga Prefecture stuff, but maybe something interesting was on the local news.

Nagara laid her head down on the cool wood surface and stared at the glass filled with orange liquid. Her analysis could not ascertain anything more than a temperature reading without taking a direct sample. With a small sigh and a raising of her head, she brought the glass to her lips and took a brief sip. She registered an abundance of water, measurable quantities of glucose, citric acid, with lesser amounts of ascorbic acid, thiamine, folic acid, potassium and trace amounts of other minerals.

Her interface recommended to activate her taste receptors for a better experience, so she did, noting the tiny increase in processor activity it caused. Her second sip of the orange juice flooded her taste receptors with a well-blended explosion of sweet and tart.

Her continued ecstasy over her first taste of the amazing thing that is orange juice was soured by a rather unflattering view of her starboard side as I-401's corrosive torpedo slammed into her port side. The person off-screen was speaking animatedly about how this was the first Fog ship sunk that he had heard of. A momentous day for them, but a bitter reminder of her failure.

"Oh yeah, I heard about that. I guess I should be happy about our victory and all, but I just can't help but thinking that they were just following orders and all." Kaori commented as she began dishing up food onto two plates.

 _Nagara, you were just following orders_. Nagara's eyes dilated as the melancholy voice of Iona played through her thoughts. The girl shook it off as she focused on what Kaori was placing before her. It consisted of white rice with some stir fried tofu and vegetables with a small bowl of miso soup.

Once seated, Kaori finally took notice of the others eyes following her, "nani?"

"You said they?"

Kaori looked at Nagara with a confused expression, "you mean the aggressor ship? I was just thinking that their crew was just following orders…"

"Fog ships don't have a crew, just a quantum processing core that controls all ship functions."

Kaori cocked her head to the side, "that's oddly specific you know…"

Nagara sweatdropped as she scratched the back of her head nervously, "I just studied up on them, curiosity you know. I wanted to… join the JMSDF someday. I thought it best to know the enemy and all."

"Huh, yeah, I think I'd like to go to sea someday. I just wish we could find out why they hate us so much. Enough of that though the food is getting cold!" Clasping her hands in front of her, while holding her chopsticks, Kaori said, "itadakimasu." She then dug into her food with gusto, pausing briefly to smile cheerfully at Nagara.

The mental model gave her a brief grin and emulated the other girl, "itadakimasu." She took a careful bite of the stir-fried tofu, "oishii…"

Kaori grinned widely, "Isn't it? I love stir-fried tofu. Oh hey… of the fog… that's just like your family name, Nagi-chan."

"Pure coincidence, Kaori-chan."

Kaori giggled, "of course, no way a good old Osaka girl like you would be a mean old fog person."

Nagi-chan blushed and puffed out her cheeks as she yelled, "Nani utten no?!"

Kaori's giggles shifted to full blown laughter.

* * *

Chuunibyou - Middle schooler disease, Middle school syndrome.

nani? - What?

itadakimasu - It can literally be translated to mean "I receive this", we typically translate it as "thanks for the food."

oishii - delicious

Nani utten no? - Osaka-ben for "what the hell are you saying?"

* * *

Between the lines:

If it feels to you that Kaori-chan is being very, or perhaps too friendly, you are right in a sense. I'm not hurrying things along, but there is a reason for it that will be explained at some point. Nagara is also being dragged along by her friendly attitude and easily slipping into casual and friendly speech.

Now, chuunibyou can be a very serious situation for many children. It is not my aim to belittle anyone with this, rather it is a bit of anime humor.

The last bit of this chapter needs a small amount of explanation. First off, Kaori comments on "of the fog" sounding like Nagara's family name (which it is) "kiri no" means "of the fog". Then Kaori calls her a good old Osaka girl (this is colloquial not literally referring to her age) because Nagara tends to use the Kansai dialect, to which Nagara responds with "Nani utten no?!" and further cementing the good old Osaka girl quip.


	4. Signs

Author's Note:

This is just a bit of interaction between the two. Nagara is really adaptable for a Light Cruiser, but without having to do much other than maintain a physical body, she has some resources to spare. Also, sometimes the universe really is a large set of coincidences, so things falling into place like this shouldn't be anything you need to worry about. The more important stuff occurs later, so forgive me for a little convenience.

Disclaimer: I do not own _Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio_ nor any of its characters.

* * *

It took a few minutes for Kaori to stop laughing fully, but every once in a while as they were eating. She would look over towards Nagara and giggle a little. Nagara huffed and pouted a little each time.

Despite this, the lunch was relatively pleasant, and Kaori chatted about this and that leaving Nagara to nod politely or give a brief answer to some inquiry.

With the girl doing the bulk of the talking, this left Nagara ample time and resources to consider her options. The consumption of human food provided her with an energy source to assess critical systems. Long range quantum communications were definitely down. The core code and system drivers seemed fine, but the physical component appeared to be stuck in a self-repair loop. She would need a larger energy source to fix it.

She would need more nanomaterials in order to craft a seaworthy hull, and without a quantum communications system she could not signal a repair and provisioning ship. Perhaps with time, she could access the human's conventional communication systems and gain enough access to control enough of the network to attempt a call by means of those systems, but it was unlikely they were monitoring it in such a fashion to be able to distinguish her call over the humans' typical traffic without some type of prearranged code.

Using a human ship to make contact with a fog ship would likely prove very dangerous as her close range communications in this form was far shorter than the average weapons range of most Fog vessels in the blockade.

Nagara was also unsure if she was in violation of the Admiralty Code currently having formed a mental model without authorization and making contact with humans. Her current flagship, Kongou, wasn't known for flexibility. Though a mere Light Cruiser, even a squadron leader and named class vessel such as herself, had no business questioning a Battleship. Especially a Light Cruiser that had failed.

"So what were you traveling here for?"

Nagara blinked and scrolled quickly back through her audio logs, at some point she had misplaced her orientation with the analog conversation as she ran her calculations. Quickly accessing the local internet, she compiled her cover story, "Well, I was on my way here to enroll in Higashi Preparatory Academy. I was hoping to complete a few high school credits and take the Prefecture exam for enrollment at the Japanese National Maritime Institute of Technology."

"Oh, what do you know, I'm enrolling at Higashi too. JNMIT is my goal, but to tell you the truth… I just want to go Kanto and see the old Tokyo capital and Yokosuka."

Nagara smiled, happy that her cover story was more reasonable this time, "I really like sailing, and I want to get back out to see as soon as I can, but I just don't know how to manage it."

"Yeah, I kind of want to sail the ocean too. All that vast space, such freedom, some place away from all these soldiers… hey, let's both go together! I promise you we'll both make it out to sea someday."

Nagara was just putting the finishing touches on her records and application to Higashi, a very simple and easy hacking job. Kaori's idea seemed silly, but she found herself nodding none the less, "yeah, let's do that."

Kaori tapped her chin with her index finger as closed her left eye in thought, "though that poses a problem, I didn't see any luggage on the shore… and really, what happened out there?"

"I… we… were making for Nagasaki's port when the Fog ship engaged the JMSDF ships. We took a hit from her, I was thrown overboard and blacked out."

Kaori paled, "what about your family?"

Nagara swallowed looking downward, "They're gone."

Nagara found herself swept up into a tight embrace, "Seems like fate, huh?" Kaori said as she attempted to chuckle, though the sound was more like a wet sniffle.

Nagara relaxed a bit in the taller girl's embrace, "I don't know if I believe in such things."

Kaori released Nagara, though her hands still clasped the other girl's shoulders, "Sorry, it's just so close… my parents were part of the JMSDF, defending our coasts. Though I didn't lose them to the Fog, but to smugglers out of Korea running drugs."

Nagara should have felt relieved that her hidden allegiance wasn't responsible for Kaori's loss, but instead she felt a tightness in her chest, or at least her emotional simulator created such a sensation.

"I'm sorry for such gloomy things, but that still brings up your luggage… and stuff, you know money and all."

Nagara shook her head to throw off the odd feeling, she had already begun the necessary system penetrations when she began forging her school documents, "I have funds in an account already established a while ago, and that should help with finances and replacing my stuff…"

"Well, we are going to the same school and it is lonely living alone… since the girls are in the dorms and all, so why don't you room with me? I'll only charge you a small amount for rent if you help with food and all, I can make it cheaper than the dorms."

Nagara nodded to that suggestion it was very convenient. Perhaps too convenient. "I can't help and wonder how lucky I am that things are turning out so well, but things rarely are ever that way in life."

"Geeze Nagi-chan that's really pessimistic…"

"Pragmatic Kaori-chan. So why are you so eager to house, clothe, and feed a complete unknown that coincidentally washed up on shore near your residence?"

Kaori-chan rubbed the back of her neck while blushing and casting her gaze towards the ceiling, "you are going to think it's really silly…"

"Try me… it would not be the first unusual thing I've experienced today."

Kaori sighed and began swirling her index finger on the table lazily and as she watched her own movements she answered Nagara's question, "Well, I'm not one to believe in things like superstition, zodiac horoscopes, or stuff like that. But, Isuzu-chan, she's a friend who's staying in the dorms… I'll introduce you next week, got into the whole Horoscope app and well she got me to download it."

Kaori produced her phone from her pocket and brought up the app, "I literally downloaded it a while ago and never looked at it until today. It literally said, 'a stranger will be swept into your life and your destiny will forever change.' I must have laughed for, I don't know how long… so when I took a stroll on the beach and saw you lying there… I don't know it just seemed prophetic."

"Nande ya nen!"

Kaori giggled, "No really! I'm not making it up, look." Kaori gestured to her phone and the open app. It was opened to Leo and the horoscope did indeed read as she had said.

"Ariehen… all based on that? Really?"

Kaori nodded in the affirmative, "Yeah, see I told you that it was silly."

"I suppose that will have to do. Come on, I don't know my way around and I'll need to get to this… Saga Prefecture Bank… and get a bank card, um, I'll need a phone like that… clothes, more than this."

"Sure Nagi-chan, by the way what does this symbol stand for? It replaced the one from my middle school on the ribbon clasp."

Nagara took hold of her ribbon and brought it up so she could see the clasp. The familiar Fog symbol adorned it. "Just something personal."

Kaori shrugged and the two headed out into Nagasaki city proper.

* * *

Notes:

Nande ya nen! - Osaka-ben for "you've got to be kidding me!"

Ariehen - Osaka-ben for "unbelievable"

* * *

Between the lines:

Well with Kaori-chan, that really isn't all there is to it. Nagara might have picked up on that if she wasn't so distracted by her new 'emotion simulator' or her Kansai plugin.


	5. Mental Model Blitz

Author's Note:

Nagara and Kaori head out into town for some shopping and run into a little bit of civil unrest. This is focused mainly on Nagara as she has a bit of a Haruna moment with two sides of a conflict. Her actions do not go unnoticed among either side (also those sneaky helicopters), but other than a small navy colored blur, those involved don't have a lot to go on. For now.

Disclaimer: I do not own _Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio_ nor any of its characters.

A long overdue thanks to those that have followed, added as a favorite, or both: picaman2, ThatGalladeAcrossTheStreet, Olaf74, Northern Kaze, My Eternal Fear, Mr Pumblechook, Hayane234, HAMMERFALL314, Epic Zealot Productions 2.0, EnderrMasa, Battleship Nagato (Nagato-sama, I'll be sure to get back to the fleet ASAP - Nagara "please don't sink me."), Arpeggio GTA Collection, TheOneWh0Reads, SpawnageLoong, RandomPersonOfTheUS, LordMesirix, I'mNotGivingMyNameToAMachine, CyberFan479

* * *

"I thought that was going to take all day. The line was so long…"

"Sorry Nagi-chan, but I should have warned you."

Nagara shrugged, "I suppose it was best that we went there last."

The pair walked along the main raised walkway above the flooded old downtown Nagasaki heading towards the Eastern shore district, Nagara's new 'home' for the time being.

The bags they both carried held groceries, clothes, and numerous other sundries. Nagara even sported a new cellphone, complete with a little charm shaped like her fog symbol. Easy-peasy nanomaterial fabrication.

If anyone were to ask her, she was getting pretty good with spontaneous adaptation and creativity. She already had complete control of this simple human communication device. Still despite that, she could not make any headway on her own quantum communications array.

A wiser person would realize why, yet the new mental model was at a loss, but she could worry about that later.

"So… I'm pretty bad at cooking…" Nagara began.

Kaori quirked a small grin, "Perhaps you wish that I should teach you?"

Nagara nodded and was about to reply when an explosion rocked the earth in the direction they were heading.

Nagara's eyes flashed briefly as her vision zeroed in on the rapidly rising plume of smoke coming from the center of the district Kaori lived in. Telescopic optic enhancements focused on the area, though what was occurring at ground level she could not see, she did spot a tilt-rotor vehicle of some sort. Its engine output and apparent color scheme identified it as military, a quick internet search identified it as a Kawasaki OH-1. It was equipped with no weapons, it was purely reconnaissance or surveillance.

This observation and activity took approximately fifteen seconds and she turned towards Kaori who was still reacting to the noise.

"Kaori-chan, we should…" Nagara attempted, but was interrupted by Kaori.

"Oh, not again! Stupid army bullies! How much are they going to push before something breaks?"

Kaori took off at a run, heading right for the column of smoke. Nagara made an attempt to intercept the young girl, but the determined and driven look on the normally cheerful Kaori caused her to hesitate.

 _I guess we'll see what's going on then._

A brisk fifteen minutes of running and the two were at the edge of a serious looking situation. A group of armed soldiers, eight in total, supported by an armored vehicle stood off against a mixed group of civilians. The civilians were a mixed group of armed dissidents and people merely caught up in a situation. That situation was apparently an attempt to cease a food shipment meant for everyone by a few organized toughs.

Nagara scanned the area, locating Kaori who was busy in the rear of the civilian crowd helping a few older people move out of the crowd. The girl took charge fairly well, directing others to help some who had been knocked down while directing them to the most optimum escape route. She had a good head on her shoulders it seemed.

Relieved the girl was doing as sensible an action as she could, despite having run towards an explosion, the mental model directed her attention on the line of civilian aggressors and military personnel. The civilians were dressed for light movement, each wore a red bandana somewhere on their person and many employed police riot shields.

Analyzing with the speed of a quantum processor core, she marked aggressors and soldiers in her own heads up display. Had she not been carefully observing both groups, she would have missed a couple of very curious and dangerous situations.

Behind the soldiers was a single individual in a brown trench coat with a red bandana. He had a pistol and was taking aim, based on her tactical analysis, not at the soldiers, but at the line of people who looked to be of his same group.

Above the scene, and across from Nagara, was another individual dressed exactly like the other civilian aggressors. This one aimed a type of chemically propelled grenade launcher, RPG was the typical term, at the army's IFV.

The IFV, a Mitsubishi Type 89, itself was aiming its thirty-five millimeter KDE cannon menacingly at the whole group of civilians. A weapon of that strength would tear through the crowd without care for hostile or innocent.

Nagara's tactical assessment placed the RPG and IFV at the top of the threat assessment. The individual with the pistol behind the Prefectural Army unit was likely trying to instigate a situation, she could speculated later, she had precious few moments before a very nasty situation erupted.

Luckily, very few people look up during situations like this, but she hoped confusion would minimize her identification. A quick leap up to the top of the fence and another, aided with her own red energy projections, she crossed the distance to the two story building's second floor where the RPG user was concealed.

Very few people expect someone to come flying through the air at them, so Nagara caught the guy by surprise. He stumbled back and slipped as she tried to grab for his launcher. Pure clumsiness was responsible for him 'dodging' her grab and his sudden tumble had the unfortunate result of causing the weapon to go off right at her.

Summoning her kline field over her left arm, she knocked the projectile up and away from her person. It impacted with the roof collapsing a portion of it and the outside wall.

The explosion caused all the tension below to explode. Grabbing the RPG, Nagara ran to the new opening in the building a hurled it straight at the pistol guy behind the army line, hitting him in the head and knocking him flat out.

The IFV's cannon was tracking and the optics for the gunner were lining up on a point, reading for sustained fire.

Leaping like a gymnast or circus acrobat, Nagara aimed for the front of the IFV. She landed hard, dipping the vehicle downward and cratering the steel armor slightly. Redirecting the momentum from the landing, Nagara kicked upward at the cannon, knocking it skyward as it fired a round.

The loud boom of Nagara's landing, complete with the cannon firing, caused everyone to briefly pause. She used this to leap lengthwise off the IFV and right at the civilian terrorists. Smoke and tear gas canisters exploded around her, as the soldiers' first responses were still in progress when she redirected the IFV's cannon.

The confusion of the situation, gas and smoke, and the strange occurrences she caused, allowed her to engage them without much retaliation. Her physical attacks smashed through riot shields and the vests the terrorists were using with relative ease.

Her tactics made good use of the smoke, tear gas, and confusion. Any response by the terrorists were blocked by her defensive tactics or deflected by her kline field.

The army soldiers were, to put it mildly, completely flabbergasted by the chaos among the civilian aggressors. The officer in charge snapped himself out of his confused state and ordered his men forward, commanding them to lay down more tear gas as they proceeded.

Nagara did not know of the intentions of the army, and Kaori seemed concerned with the well-being of the non-combative civilians and a bit angry at the army earlier, so her best assessment was to also neutralize the other aggressive force.

The army employed gas masks, so the main effect of the tear gas itself was not a hazard to them, but it would hamper them visually. Using those mental model superior physical capabilities, she kicked the dozen or so gas-spewing canisters right back at the advancing squads.

With the first kick she hit the officer, who was wearing his field cap instead of a helmet and in the very rear of the engagement area, squarely in the forehead. He dropped like a sack of potatoes and did not rise.

Nagara, sheepishly, adjusted the force a bit with the other kicks and after a brief few moments, tear gas engulfed the area.

Dashing in, Nagara grabbed gas masks left and right, pulling them off or damaging the air-tight integrity. She was forced to knock out a stubborn soldier or two, but in the end, the ground combatives were mostly dealt with.

Her threat warning pinged and not a second later, a thirty-five millimeter shell flattened itself against the kline field protecting her back.

 _Really? An anti-vehicle cannon against a single person?_

Nagara leaped backwards, landing next to the IFV. With a single execution of a process, she formed a pair of medium length swords – wakizashi as they are known – and sliced upward, severing the entire cannon barrel.

With a bit of a flourish, and a semi-pirouette, the small girl slashed her way through the entire left-side track and armor skirt.

"I guess these were useful for something… still, a default outfit would have been nice."

Clearing her throat, drastically raising the volume and modulating her vocal output a bit, Nagara yelled, "All civilians clear out of the area immediately, this is a high danger zone."

She took off at a run, heading for the back fence area where Kaori was helping the last of the civilians exit the area.

"Nagi-chan, did you just get here?" Kaori inquired.

Nagara nodded, "I was held up a bit, and it looks like you got everyone out, except yourself. Let's go."

The two took off in a run towards the other end of the downtown area and more towards Kaori's house. The optics of a circling helicopter followed the two of them until they left its sight range, the pilot busy calling reinforcements to her position.

Nagara, when they were suitably far away, stopped and gestured back towards the distant scene, "So… what exactly was that all about?"

Kaori sighed, "There are some smugglers and ex-yakuza that formed a kind of, government resistance movement. They really just steal relief supplies to sell on the black market. Lately they have been becoming bolder. This is the first time they tried to actually fight the army though. I wasn't paying too much attention to what was going on, trying to get the people to safety you know."

To Kaori's surprise, when they reached the area that she dropped the bags at, they were still there. "Now that's lucky. I wasn't even thinking about these, just dropped and ran."

"That's probably because _I_ paid for them." Nagara stated with a forced smile.

Kaori rubbed the back of her head and gave a nervous laugh, "Sorry, my bad."

* * *

Between the lines:

Nagara either dismissed the threat of the helicopter because it was unarmed, or the experience of fighting in her new form caused her to forget about it. She was concerned about ground combatives identifying her, but forgets the actual reconnaissance vehicle. Nagi, Nagi... what am I going to do with you.

Not much focus on Kaori, I resisted the urge to put her in danger for the purpose of Nagara getting her out of it because that isn't the route I wanted. Kaori needs to remain ignorant a bit longer, but the power that be need to see that an unknown has entered the playing field.


	6. Powers that be

Author's Note:

We step away from Nagara and Kaori for a little bit to take a look at one of the high stakes players in the Southern region, Saga Prefecture. Since all the background political machinations occur in, about, and around the Central and Northern regions, the Southern is, currently, somewhat free for us to mold a bit. I'm not a big fan of political subplots and chess games, so I apologize if anyone is hoping for a deep, Machiavellian dialogue with rich move, counter-move kinds of stuff.

Disclaimer: I do not own _Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio_ nor any of its characters.

Big thanks to those that have recently followed, added as a favorite, or both: Lord-Sylph, CCBubba, crasyadis, xXMadCatXx (I was always more of a fan of the Dire Wolf then the Timber Wolf, solid Mech though.), dbfox007

* * *

In a dimly lit, lonely office, a single figure reclined regally in their plush, leather chair as they scrolled through the multiple after-action reports and debriefs from what should have amounted to a routine peacekeeping exercise for the Prefectural Army. General Nishino had left several a while ago and the discussion of the 'event' had been infuriating.

This is not to say because there was any ill will or dislike for Nishino-san. No it was mostly due to the start of the meeting when the man had plastered his face to the ground in apology for the 'disgrace'. Even with polite coxing, the best that could be achieved was him standing with his upper body parallel with the floor.

Nishino's back could have been used to serve tea, but that would have been going too far. Sometimes the mannerisms of these people were very difficult to fathom. The figure rubbed the space between the eyes, many had advised in the past that this helped with tension, but at the moment it did nothing in the way of offering relief.

Tapping the computer screen stopped the cycling of the various pictures and another tap started up the video footage captured by the reconnaissance helicopter.

It showed something seemingly impossible from what one knows of the basics of humanity. One would assume this was an elaborate prank or that a technician had slipped in some clips from an anime. It clearly showed a young girl, high school age, leaping, dodging, and combating forces from both sides of the little civil disturbance from yesterday.

If that wasn't enough, it also clearly shows this girl blocking a thirty-five millimeter cannon shell with some kind of red hexagonal energy field. It was very mathematically precise for what one would speculate could be human exhibited super-powers or psionics.

Catching a view in the small mirror on the desk, a slim hand reached out and grasped the handle. It was brought to an angle to obtain a full view of their own visage.

The youthful face of a twenty year old female looked back. Dark black, almost blue, hair and brown eyes, a fairly pale complexion with fairly high cheekbones and lithe features overall, one could not have designed a more perfect look.

She kept her hair long, with two shorter strands that lay in front of the ears. Sighing, she reached into her pocket on her blazer and produced a pair of half-rimmed glasses and slipped them on. Deputy Prime Minister or not, she was always better received when wearing these glasses then not.

Closing the lid on her terminal, she exited her office and headed for the department across the building from her, it was time to pay a visit to the Assistant Defense Secretary for the Prefecture. Most of the officials were gone for the day, but Assistant Secretary Hasegawa could be guaranteed to still be on site. His assistant was not in the front office, so as want was her way, she quietly let herself in his office.

Hasegawa was indeed in his office, in the dark and only illuminated by the light from his computer's screen. Shaking her head, she flipped on the office lights.

"Hasegawa-san, you will go blind staring at a computer screen in the dark."

Shielding his eyes from the sudden influx of light, the assistant secretary made a few confused noises before seeing the time from a clock on the wall, "Ah, Deputy Prime Minister Aisaka-san, I hadn't realized the time. I was just closely reviewing the footage from the incident yesterday and found something interesting."

Hasegawa tapped the screen, pausing the slideshow of images on a very unfortunate shot, as he looked towards Aisaka.

Aisaka Chiyo closed the distance from the door to the desk and rounded its side to regard his terminal. A small smile graced her lips as she saw the image on screen, "Closely, I see… and 'interesting' that may not be appropriate Hasegawa-kun."

With a confused expression he turned his attention to his screen and paled immediately. He had stopped the slideshow on an unfortunate shot from the gunner camera of the IFV of the unknown girl as she kicked up against the main gun. The camera had caught a clear and in focus shot of the girl's panties.

He blushed heavily and looked away, swiping the screen a random number of times in his flustered state, "no, no, that isn't it at all!" The scrolling pictures stopped again with his luck not being all that much better for the effort.

"I did not know you were into that kind of thing Hasegawa-kun."

Almost fearing the result he carefully turned his eyes back to his screen and the image, probably captured by one of the reconnaissance helicopter's high speed cameras, was of the girl back flipping through the air. The main area of the shot and clearly in focus part was of her exposed midriff.

Placing his hand over his face, the Assistant Secretary groaned deeply. Aisaka patted him on the back reassuringly with a small smile on her lips, "I am sorry Hasegawa-san, it is just too easy for even someone like me to fluster you. Even I am not in that much control of myself to resist such an easy act."

Nodding robotically, he swiped through the images carefully until he came upon the one he was looking for. This one, like the unfortunate first one, was taken by the camera in the gun sight. It was of when the girl had cut through the IFV's cannon with nothing more than a pair of old style Japanese swords. He zoomed in on the necktie, specifically the clasp.

"When I was studying these pictures, I noticed she was wearing something like a school uniform. I had hoped to find a school symbol or such that could be identified. Instead I saw this odd looking one."

Aisaka studied the symbol closely, "I have seen this before. Do you have any images of the engagement near the Space Center, specifically the fog vessel?"

"Let me see." A few quick taps here and there and a folder opened full of images. Hasegawa began cycling through images.

"Stop, that last one. Yes, this was taken by one of the drones. There on the bow." Aisaka indicated with her finger.

Hasegawa gasped, "It's the same image. That means…"

Aisaka held up her hand, "We don't know what this means, as it was observed and collaborated by reports from the I-401 crew that this cruiser did not have a form similar to what their vessel has. Additionally, now that I remember it, this particular symbol occurs frequently with Fog vessels and seems to be a general symbol in and of itself."

"A fog vessel is sunk in our waters and a girl displaying extraordinary abilities with a symbol of the Fog appears in Nagasaki? Too many variables for this to be a pure coincidence."

Aisaka nodded, "Perhaps. The probability is very low of this being unrelated, however we cannot be sure on our own. They are still in port finishing their resupply after their meeting with Kamikage of the Central Region, perhaps we can question them as to the identity of this girl."

"I will inquire about this personally ma'am."

* * *

The next day, fairly early in the morning, Assistant Secretary Hasegawa stood on the dock berthing I-401 with Chihaya Gunzou and the representation of the ship herself, Iona.

"Captain Chihaya, thank you for taking my call yesterday evening and for meeting with me this morning. I promise to make this brief as you and your crews are busy people."

"It is fine Secretary Hasegawa, we have a few minutes to spare before we launch. Now what is this matter you wish to discuss? I'm afraid we won't be available for a while…"

Hasegawa held up his hand that held his tablet, "nothing like that. I merely have a question regarding an incident a few days ago in town. Do you recognize this person?"

Accepting the tablet, Chihaya Gunzou regarded the girl in the picture briefly before showing it to Iona. Iona blinked at it before swiping through the various images. She found one enlarged a portion as best as she could and analyzed it using her processor and the tactical network.

On board I-401, screens came to life with the images from Hasegawa's tablet and cross-referenced the one she found that showed another symbol on the forearm of the girl, when she brought her swords into existence, and made a ninety percent match.

A second after finding the image, Iona looked squarely at Gunzou, "that is Nagara, somehow."

Testing the hypothesis, Iona opened the communications portion of the network and broadcasted on the channel Nagara would have personally used in the past.

In a certain house in Nagasaki, the fairly new mental model was perusing the collection of school texts she had been issued when she visited the campus yesterday to complete her registration in person.

(click click, static) _Nagara?_

Nagara fell out of her chair as the short range communications array came to life.

 _Kuso!_ Nagara managed before dropping the channel. "How did I-401 find me… did she come to finish me off?"

Back on the dock, a mere second had passed since her declaration and her captain was surprised at the revelation.

"Nagara? A ship of her class shouldn't have a mental model though."

Iona nodded, "I know, but it is her, somehow. I just confirmed it and received a colorful word in reply before the channel was blocked."

Iona send a database update for the tactical network cache Nagara was using with a text-based reply as she wasn't 'accepting calls' at the moment.

At Kaori's house, Nagara received the tactical data uploads with trepidation, but to her surprise it included just database updates. She opened the text message.

 _I worked out who you were from image data and the Fog sigil. The Prefectural Military is now aware of whom you are, but I do not think they know how to react. I know your class isn't designed for this, but try a stealthy approach and use my uploaded data points for human interaction models. Whatever you are planning on doing here on land, try keeping a lower profile._

"Try keeping a lower profile." Nagara parroted in a sing-song voice, "aho…"

* * *

Kuso – shit

Aho – Osaka-ben for idiot, used in place of baka.


	7. School Days

Author's Note:

First of all, I am sorry this took so long to reach you all. I wanted to update once a month on both Arpeggio stories, but life always has a means of showing you it means business.

So begins Nagara's foray into human education. I don't plan on going through the day to day, but the school will be a jumping off point and a congregation center. The significance of who ends up the teacher at the end is not without precedence, but it is a trope found in various manga. I left off meeting Kaori's friends for the next update.

Higashi is a name of an actual school in Nagasaki, this is intentional, but it is not meant to be that school specifically. Higashi Preparatory Academy is a high school level institution dedicated to preparing students for transfer to two and four year technical universities and is partnered with the Japanese National Maritime Institute of Technology, among others.

Disclaimer: I do not own _Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio_ nor any of its characters.

Big thanks to those that have recently followed, added as a favorite, or both: The Celestial Sky Dragon, Aura Guardian, Entrance, Law77, The Eternal Lord Draconious, Kiri no Tenma, MightyUSSR, CabooseHelpsU

* * *

"I-401 confirmed it and even established brief contact that was blocked."

Aisaka Chiyo looked over the brief report that Assistant Secretary Hasegawa had handed to her. It contained the small amount of data they had collected and the equally small information that I-401 had given. Somehow Aisaka did not find the mental model's unforthcoming attitude all that surprising.

"The cost?"

Hasegawa sighed, "An extra crate of luxury rations and the promise of a healthy discount on future resupplies."

Aisaka did not respond to that, the price was not an issue, I-401's contributions were considered priceless in most instances. A bit of indulgence could be overlooked this time.

"Thank you for your attention in this matter Hasegawa-san."

The Secretary bowed in acknowledgement, but raised a question, "What action do you recommend we take in this matter?"

Aisaka did not respond immediately, instead she opened the center drawer on her desk and produced a manila envelope. Within were several documents with Higashi Preparatory Academy letterhead.

"For now, we will keep our distance and observe. Tighten security at the Space center and our military bases. But that is all, I want this information on what she is on a need-to-know basis. Umino-san will agree, I have no doubt."

Hasegawa nodded, making a few notes on his tablet. Eyeing the packet, he raised an eyebrow, "and yourself?"

"I think I will be taking an old friend up on an offer."

* * *

Kaori and Nagara walked along the sidewalk towards their first official day of classes at Higashi. Resplendent in fresh, crisp school uniforms, the pair moved among others dressed similarly. The convenience of living where she was currently was very apparent, a short few blocks from the school, on the coast, and near enough to Nagasaki's civil resources.

"So, worried about your first day Nagi-chan?"

"I would be lying if I said I was not worried…" Nagara began.

To say that Nagara was worried would be akin to stating that the sun was merely 'hot'. Though it was not about classes to which her worry was attributed.

Within her own thought processes, she pondered the recent message received from I-401, or Iona as some of the more recent message headers seemed to indicate. How could she have been observed so closely during the fighting then the individual humans participating? The IFV's cameras could only have caught a couple of images, something she was already worrying over before this revelation.

Then it clicked, the helicopter. It likely had observational capabilities that would include image capture and full motion video recording. A review of her own image files confirmed this. Nagara was almost mortified that she missed such a crucial thing at the time.

"… but I know I'll be fine with you there to help me along."

Kaori laughed heartily and teasingly added, "That's sweeter then the syrup on the waffles this morning."

I-401's observations of others were somewhat more useful than the submarine's own behavioral simulation models. It seemed ironic to Nagara that such an experienced mental model could seem so deadpan, or that was just what she was going for in a simulation model.

"Your waffles were good, malt makes it so much better, but I want to try this Swedish pancake recipe I found online. Not sure where to get lingonberries though."

Nagara considered her contingencies for a government interdiction of her residence with Kaori or attendance at Higashi. She considered exit strategies, and protection procedures for Kaori.

"Lingonberries? I'm not familiar with this word, it's English right?"

Nagara nodded, "It is, that is the common name, or cowberry. Vaccinium vitis-idaea."

Her tactical assessment evaluated Kaori. Human forms could not replace extremities if lost, she might be able to craft something from nanomaterial, but that would be very edge experimental. Any number of upper torso hits will each have a high capacity for ending life functions.

"… (vaccinate bits idea)… I don't get it…" Kaori went cross-eyed as she tried to discern what Nagara just said.

"How many penetrating wounds to the abdomen do you think you could survive in a hostile engagement?"

Swedish pancakes and lingonberries provide no tactical value in an engagement with hostiles. Either in protective or offensive capabilities.

Kaori breath hitched and she stopped walking completely as her hand subconsciously drifted to her midsection, "um… what?"

Nagara blinked and immediately realized that her internal tactical dialogue and the analog conversation had somehow become mixed. Maintaining this kind of form was certainly a challenge.

"Er, I was um, considering the game play of that new shooter… Shining Force: JSDF. I was just considering how many hits they allow a JGSDF SFGp trooper to take compared to the other options like the U.S. Navy SEAL or the SPETSNAZ Alpha."

Kaori raised an eyebrow at this and Nagara's emotion simulators produced a sweatdrop and a large blush in her cheeks.

"You are kind of scatter brained Nagi-chan, how do we go from Swedish pancakes to SF: JSDF in like one breath?"

Nagara could only produce a small laugh as she nervously scratched the back of her head.

Kaori blew a strand of hair from her eyes and continued walking, "ARC is a Japanese developer, so a bit of ethnocentrism sneaks in, but I guess it is for balance. In the game, SEAL units have like a crazy high damage reduction from body armor, and wicked CQC with blades. SPETSNAZ got really excellent evasion and unarmed CQC and all… but it's all about the weapons. Ethnocentrism or not, JGSDF is lacking the capabilities of the others without looking like a copy of the SEAL or Ranger."

Nagara nodded along, "I guess you got to balance somewhere."

"Yeah, arrgh, now I want to play video games. Thanks a lot Nagi-chan."

Nagara smiled widely, "I try my best Kaori-chan."

Setting the simulations to auto. Proceeding with 'wait it out and continue to operate as a normal school age girl' operational model.

Eventually the pair reach the school, review the campus maps and layout, planning their day accordingly. Kaori had homeroom in a separate class then Nagara, full of her friends that she mentioned a few days ago. A plan was reached for introductions at lunch and with plans set the pair split up for classes as the first period announcement warnings commenced.

Arriving at her homeroom, she found nothing particularly exceptional about the room, desks, or amenities therein. The room had restrictions in place for outside network connectivity, but a school provided, heavily restricted WIFI was available. Nagara was through all protections and restrictions in less than a few seconds.

A certain un-quantifiable directive drew her to the head of the row on the outside wall next to the window. The first seat was occupied by a thin, platinum blond haired girl of mixed ancestry. She barely noted Nagara's presence as she slid into the second seat.

The desks were all-in-one units of table and seat. The desk surface was accommodating and had a built in touch-screen interface that seemed to react to anything that touched it. Her mental model form was sufficiently more advanced then human technology and she registered as nothing more than who she was as the smart-desk registered her as its user and recorded attendance. It began the standard welcome and first setup scripts to get her moving along, best to have that done before class starts.

The chair was ergonomic and relatively comfortable, but not so much so that one might doze off. The desk across the aisle from hers had their openings into the same aisle as hers, but they were doubled up with another desk to its opposite side so two people sat next to each other.

Nagara's thoughts drifted to exits, the locations of electronic surveillance devices, which only seemed to observe the entrance-exits, and any other network capable devices like mobile phones or tablets. It seemed rather pedestrian to her to be able to gain and elevate her access to these devices, so she instead focused on the individuals.

Higashi was a normal co-ed establishment, which Nagara was oddly thankful for. Not for want of companionship of a specific gender, mainly for the injection of normalcy. Her life on land, thus far, has incorporated disturbing amounts of shoujo and shounen manga tropes and the addition of something akin to an 'all-girls school' would be pushing the tolerance levels of her logic processes. After all, this was reality and not some manga or anime series.

The quiet and aloof platinum blond in front of her was already throwing up so many flags, had this been manga, she would definitely be an important character. There was also the fiery tempered red-head, the proper mannered and dark-haired girl, so many stand-outs. That her seem rather normal in comparison, what was she in relation to all of these girls?

"…advanced computer intelligence."

Nagara froze, had she a real flesh and blood heart it would have skipped a beat. Slowly, and as casually as she could, she turned and raised a question to the formerly quiet (possibly still aloof, and obviously still platinum blond) girl in the seat in front of hers.

"W..what," her voice cracked, forcing her to clear her throat, "pardon, what was that?" _Smooth_ , she chastised herself.

The regarded her a moment before casually pointing to one of the books Nagara had taken out of her backpack, "I asked why you brought the this book, the school sent out multiple emails and notices that the class won't start until tomorrow due to an emergency the Professor had."

Nagara looked at the cover of the book, _Theories of Advanced Computer Intelligences_ , and internally sighed in relief, "I guess I just forgot. The name is Kirino Nagara, nice to meet you."

"Whatever." The girl flatly replied before pausing and sighing, "My apologies, that was rude of me. Minami Shiori."

Nagara began to reply in courtesy, but paused with the simultaneous chiming of the period bell and the entrance of the class instructor.

The surprise, confusion, and admiration were nearly palpable and all directed at the instructor. She had lithe features with a pale complexion, dark black hair that almost appeared blue, and intense light brown eyes.

As was customary, she introduced herself formally, "I am Aisaka Chiyo and I will be your homeroom instructor for this semester."

Pausing, she cast her gaze briefly at every student purposefully managing to end at Nagara to which she gave a nearly imperceptible upturning of the lips before continuing, "I look forward to working with each and every one of you."

Curious, Nagara used her pirated internet access to do a quick keyword, internet search on the name Aisaka Chiyo. Choosing the top entry produced a government profile listing her as the Deputy Prime Minister of Saga Prefecture.

Nagara ran through every variable and used her advanced search algorithms against all local internet traffic, government sites, and tried to do as low-profile of a EM emissions scan as she could. All abstract calculation engines and logic processes could find no reasonable correlations with current trends to indicate any overt government actions.

Email traffic, EM emissions, and other scans and data filtering produced nothing more than a few chains of messages between Aisaka and the school director.

With around a ninety-nine percent certainty, Nagara breathed a figurative sigh of relief. As strange as it would seem, the situation was a pure coincidence, after all, life was not some kind of manga, and she just had the internal dialogue with herself earlier.

"…Kirino-san?"

Nagara blinked and focused on Aisaka-sensei, "hai, Aisaka-san?"

Aisaka smiled warmly, like many a stereotypical educator was thought to do often, "I was appointing you as the interim class leader until next week when we hold class elections for the position. There is no obligation to submit to the election process next week, but if you do a good job it is likely a good basis for others to judge by. As you know, I am very fond of our governmental systems, as an elected official myself."

Nagara sweatdropped, "class leader?"

"Hai Kirino-san. I look forward to working with you." Aisaka bowed ever so slightly.

"I look forward to working with you." Nagara bowed lower, as was expected of a student. _Coincidence, huh… yeah and I'm a Chinese jet pilot._

* * *

Between the Lines:

As always, I mean no disrespect to people of Chinese ancestry, or who are pilots of aircraft. It is a bastardized line of a movie I am quite fond of. Most of Nagara's calculations and thought processes occur in fractions of a second, her forays into hacking and internet searches as well. She is an advanced computer intelligence, even if maintaining emotion simulators is taxing on system resources.


End file.
